


First Contact: Decimus and Jaal

by DAfan7711



Series: Andromeda [1]
Category: Mass Effect, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Ark Hyperion, BioWare romances, Coma, Decimus we can do this Ryder, Eglantine the future is ours Ryder, First Meetings, M/M, Mass Effect romances, Mass Effect: Andromeda romances, One Shot, Pre-Relationship, Ryder twins (Mass Effect), Twins, clinic, idioms, intravenous drip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-04
Updated: 2017-04-04
Packaged: 2018-10-14 21:22:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10544542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DAfan7711/pseuds/DAfan7711
Summary: Jaal Ama Darav accompanies human Pathfinder Eglantine Ryder to visit her unconscious twin brother, Decimus, in the clinic and finds a man he'd like to get to know better.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for Mass Effect: Andromeda. According to a convenient piece of canon, the Pathfinder team members are on their feet and battle ready within minutes after 634 years in cryo.
> 
> I wrote the first draft of this story during Early Access, before the full game release and news that Jaal is only romanceable by female Ryder in-game. UPDATE: 06-06-17 Mass Effect: Andromeda [Patch 1.08](http://blog.bioware.com/2017/06/06/mass-effect-andromeda-patch-1-08-notes/) made Jaal a romance option for male Ryder.

Decimus was only half dreaming. His sister stood over him, shotgun in hand, shielding him with a biotic bubble. His limbs were too heavy to lift. His lips wouldn’t move. Had he been shot? He couldn’t remember getting on the shuttle, much less landing planetside. What was Habitat Seven supposed to look like anyway?

If he could just wake up enough to ask her.

A shadow rose behind her. He tried to shout a warning, but his lips were too heavy to move. Darkness enveloped him again.

Three times it happened: She shielded him, and he struggled to speak. Each time the shadow was a different size, a different shape. And each time he reached for consciousness, his sister drifted away.

“I miss you,” she whispered in the distance.

-                                                                            

Jaal Ama Darav followed the human Pathfinder onto Ark Hyperion and down to the medical bay. The brightly-lit clinic was empty, save for one patient in a straight, stiff bed, and a human and asari doctor talking softly with each other on the other side of the room.

Eglantine led Jaal to Decimus’ bedside.

“Jaal, this is my brother, Dec.” She pronounced it ‘dess.’ “Decimus, actually. Don’t call him Dec. He was supposed to be boots-on-the-ground with me, first thing.

“Lexi,” she called out, “he wouldn’t want to be unshaven for company.”

“Why bother?” the human doctor answered before the asari could. “If he wants to go baby-faced, he can do it after he’s up.”

Jaal stared down at the human in the clinic bed. Clearly, he was Eglantine’s family, with the same fair nose and lips, and hair a fascinating muted gold color Jaal had never seen before the human Pathfinder. He didn’t look frail at all, his shoulders and biceps almost as broad as Jaal’s own, his white skin slightly tanned, with a tinge of pink across his cheeks that ran down into a short, mussed beard.

Fascinating thing, human hair.

His sleep looked natural. Had Eglantine not told him her brother was in a coma, Jaal would have thought him asleep.

Alien . . . yet perhaps more like the angara than he had thought. Especially if he had a heart like his sister, or the veteran krogan on her ship. Something heavy shifted in Jaal’s chest, but he did not speak his mind yet, as he would if he had been among his own people.

Someone had put a clear, shiny balm on the patient’s pink lips, so they would not crack as he slept with no nourishment besides the intravenous drip beside his bed.

Eglantine pulled an extra blanket up over Decimus, and Jaal had to rein in the impulse to place a hand on her drooping shoulder. He did not understand it, but, unless she offered a handshake, the Pathfinder did not allow anyone other than the medical officer to touch her.

“Figures,” Eglantine said. “He comes out of cryo looking like a swim suit ad, while I look like the underbelly of a fish that’s been on ice. At least I’m conscious.” She cringed. “Sorry, Dec. I don’t know if you can hear me, but that was unkind. I really do wish you were up and well.”

“Good morning to you, too, E,” her brother’s voice was low and gravelly from lack of use. His accent mirrored hers, much cleaner and more understandable than any of the doctors’.

“Where’s the coffee?” He blinked against the harsh overhead lights, but his deep green eyes—a perfect match of his sister’s—surprisingly clear. His glance flicked swiftly over Jaal like he was just another piece of furniture, but the Resistance fighter knew he had been measured.

“Decimus! Stay still! Lexi, Harry, get over here!”

“No need.” Decimus swung his legs over the side of the bed. “But please tell me there’s coffee.”

The asari stepped between them, holding up a finger. “Look over here. And here.”

“My brain’s intact.” With each word, Decimus’ voice became clearer. Jaal found himself missing the gravelly tone. “I need caffeine and a toilet.” He reached for the needle in his arm.

“Wait, allow me—” but he had it yanked out before the doctor finished her sentence. With a sigh, she pulled gloves and gauze out of the cupboard by his bed and tended to his arm. The human doctor chuckled.

“Despite his best efforts to the contrary,” the asari said, “we will have your brother on his feet soon, Pathfinder.”

“Pathfinder?” Decimus sat straighter and looked around the room like a forlorn child. “Where’s Dad?”

“Decimus,” Eglantine wrapped her arms around herself and shuddered. Why did they not touch each other? They were family. “Daddy didn’t make it. He—he died saving me on our first Andromeda drop.”

“Dead,” Decimus slumped down. “I . . . are you okay?”

“Deci”—she pronounced it ‘dessie’ and Jaal’s heart twisted in his chest—“I’m . . .  no, not really, but all the other arks and pathfinders are missing, and none of the golden worlds—

“I’m sorry. It’s a lot to dump on you. I’ve managed to establish an outpost on Eos. It’s not enough but . . .”

Her omni-tool blinked. “I have to go. I . . . I’ll be back for you as soon as Lexi gives the all-clear.”

“Yeah,” Decimus’ voice was barely above a whisper. “Take care, E.”

She nodded, eyes brimming with unshed tears, and left the clinic.

“You,” eyes narrowed in suspicion, he pointed a finger at Jaal. “You stay away from my sister.”

Jaal smiled. This was the most interesting display of human behavior he had yet seen. “As a member of her crew, that would prove difficult. And I would not be a good liaison for my people. Perhaps you would prefer I abandon her without intelligence on your greatest enemy? _Our_ greatest enemy? For it is not hunger or homelessness you should fear, human. They are much kinder ways to die than to meet the Kett.”

Decimus frowned.

As much as Jaal would have enjoyed speaking further with the tall human male, he knew it unwise to wander the vessel without a human escort. Without a further word, he left the clinic to find Eglantine sitting on a hard plastic chair in a dark corner, sobbing. One of the vessel’s turian security personnel, at alert just down the hall, spared them a glance and turned his back to give them some semblance of privacy.

It was too much hurt to ignore. Jaal dropped to his knees, gathering her into a crushing hug that made her gasp in surprise. The turian spun around, rifle raised, but Eglantine waved him off.

“Oh, Jaal,” Eglantine sighed and snuggled into his embrace. “I should be happy. He’s up and talking. And, and, and I couldn’t even manage to tell him basic facts. I just fell apart. What kind of Pathfinder am I?”

“You are everything we need and more. Do not hide what you feel.”

The Pathfinder eased back. “I need some time in Dad’s—my—office. Figure out what I’m going to say when Dec asks me about . .  . it all.” She took a shuddering breath. “You can head back to the Tempest. I know you dropped everything to come with me.”

Jaal inclined his head. “Nothing on the ship is more important than this.”

“Well, thanks. It helped that you were here.” With a little wave of her hand, Eglantine walked away, head held high, but shoulders stiff.

-

The purple alien had the sexiest voice Decimus had ever heard. Firm yet gentle, with little rolling consonants and clear bursts of words between short pauses. No wonder E was hanging out with him.

“Sorry, Dr. T’Perro,” he gestured toward the arm she’d just bandaged and offered his other wrist for Lexi to take his pulse. “What’s the year?”

“Twenty-eight nineteen,” Harry set three steaming coffees on the bedside table. “These are all for you. It’s your maximum intake for the day, until we’re certain your heartrate stays within normal ranges.”

“I just need something to get me going. Thanks, Dr. Carlyle.” He rubbed his itching chin, irritated to find a few weeks’ worth of scruffy beard. How long had he been out? Why was he in an empty clinic? Why had Eglantine been woken for duty, while he was left here? They’d made First Contact with at least one other culture, not all of it peaceful, and he’d slept through it. “Would you mind asking requisitions for a razor? I feel like I fell face-first into a cactus.”

Harry pulled a vacuum-sealed package out of the bedside cupboard. “Three blades and a toothbrush in here for you, as soon as Dr. T’Perro clears you for the crew’s quarters.” He nodded to Lexi. “I’ll leave you two to it. Page me if you need me.”

Alone with the kind asari physician, Decimus wondered how far to shit the mission had gone while he slept on.

“How bad is it?” he asked.

“I take it you’re not referring to your own health?”

He shook his head.

“Bad.” She picked up a datapad and started typing. “We showed up fourteen months late, hit an energy cloud—that’s why you were in a medically induced coma for a while, by the way, because your stasis revival was interrupted—and all three of the other arks are still missing. She’s got us to the Nexus and established an outpost on a planet that failed twice before we arrived.”

“And the man traveling with her?”

She smiled. “The angara are an interesting people. I’ll let your sister brief you on the rest.

“Let’s check your implant. It went offline when your cryo pod was damaged. SAM?”

“Yes, Dr. T’Perro. Initiating connection.”

Decimus felt a brief tingling in his fingertips, but otherwise no indication that an AI was messing with tech in his skull. It wasn’t an entirely comfortable thought, but if cautious Eglantine had been willing to do it, so was he.

“Hey, SAM.”

“Welcome to the Andromeda Galaxy, Decimus.” The steady electronic voice was the same as the first time their dad had played it over the loudspeakers for them back in the Milky Way.

“Thanks. Can you queue up for me everything we know about the alien who was with Egl—the Pathfinder today, First Contact, everything we’ve got for new scans and cultures? I need to know who or what the Kett are, and I’d also like a copy of all the ships’ logs we can access.”

“Authorization confirmed. Files have been downloaded to your personal data drives.”

“Great. I assume she’s read it all already.” He grabbed the first coffee mug and chugged half its scalding contents.

“That is correct, Decimus. My primary objective is to provide the Pathfinder with any and all data, queued in order or priority.”

Good. At least she’d had the AI looking out for her while he’d been out of it.

“So your loyalties are to her now, too?”

There was a human-like pause before the AI answered. “It is . . . complicated. I am incapable of betraying E. Do not tell me anything you would not want her to eventually know.”

He—it had called her E. Not Pathfinder. Or Eglantine. E. She only tolerated that from Mom, Dad, and Decimus. Decimus shifted uncomfortably where he sat. Maybe E didn’t need him after all.

“I don’t keep secrets from my sister. She’s my best friend.” Or, she had been, before he’d raced off to Arcturus and she’d fought Batarian pirates for Prothean tech. Andromeda was supposed to be their chance to reconnect; a fresh start for them, not just humanity.

The AI did not answer.

“SAM, how’s security?”

“The Nexus is now stable. Tiran Kandros supervises the militia, should you have further questions.”

“That name wasn’t on the brochure. Turian?”

“Yes.”

“I assume ‘now stable’ means there was trouble earlier. I should read up before talking with him.”

“I can provide an indexed summary to bring you up to speed quickly. If you have questions, please ask.”

“Thanks, SAM.” He stood and chugged the second half of his first coffee, placed the mug next to some other dirty cups on the counter by the sink. “Thank you, Dr. T’Perro.”

“Take care, Decimus.”

He picked up his other two coffees, still steaming, and headed for the door. “First thing’s first. SAM, where can I find my sister?”

“The Pathfinder may be found in her personal quarters.”

Decimus stopped dead in his tracks. “The cabin that was Dad’s.”

“Correct.”

“SAM, I don’t want to make her re-live it. How did he . . . ?”

“The atmosphere on Habitat Seven was not suitable for the human respiratory system. When he activated local atmosphere-altering technology—”

“Wait, weather tech? Like the shroud on Tuchanka, for the krogan?”

“These are more powerful, altering a planet’s weather within minutes, with further atmospheric and terraforming results within weeks. When he activated the vault, a power surge knocked Alec and Eglantine from the tower. Her helmet was damaged. The omni-tool footage is available, should you wish to review it.”

Decimus stumbled over to a waiting room chair and set his coffees down. His stomach boiled with bile, but he kept it down. At least no one else was in the room to hear SAM’s words.

“I know I should.” He took a shuddering breath. “But I need to see her again first.”

He stood, amazed to find himself steady on his feet, despite the whirring of his mind over all he’d just learned. When he reached Eglantine’s cabin, she greeted him with a smile and revved up Dad’s old coffee maker. Perhaps the Initiative could succeed after all.

_We can do this._

-

Jaal’s second meeting with Decimus was even more interesting.

Jaal had accompanied the Pathfinder to the Nexus shops to learn more about Milky Way equipment. His favorite part of the afternoon had been watching her dither over whether to purchase a new paint job for the NOMAD. She finally pushed the order button and whispered to him, “I _have_ to. It’s _Archangel_. Don’t tell Addison in Colonial Affairs.”

He nodded gravely. “Perhaps we should not park the vehicle where she may see it.”

Her shining grin was beautiful. Then she saw something behind him that made her face light up even more.

“It’s Decimus!” She grabbed Jaal’s arm. “C’mon.” She dragged him across the hall to where her twin was talking with Tiran Kandros, the turian leading the Nexus militia.

“I’ll be in my office,” the turian told Decimus. “Pathfinder,” he touched Eglantine’s shoulder on the way past and she smiled at him, with no sign of her usual preference for personal space. Interesting.

“Kandros.

 “Hey, Decimus, what brings you to the market?”

Despite Eglantine’s excitement just a moment ago, the Ryder twins did not hug, or kiss a cheek, or even stand any closer than human strangers would when meeting for the first time. Jaal didn’t understand it.

“Just passing through. Kandros stopped me and offered me a strike team. Seems he’d heard good things about me from Arcturus before we left.”

Eglantine’s left hand started to shake. She stuck her hands in her pockets. “You . . . you’d rather be a militia lieutenant than stay on the Pathfinder team?”

“I can help more people this way.”

That was a lie, and they all knew it.

“Right. Congratulations, Dec.” She looked away. “If you need backup, let SAM know and we’ll be there. There’s Captain Dunn; I’ve got to catch her before she reaches the tram. Be right back.” She absently gave Jaal’s elbow a squeeze before scurrying off.

“Have you no heart?” The words were out faster than Jaal could think them through.

“I have eyes. Common sense. My sister just touched you.”

That made Jaal pause. Decimus’ threatening tone was contrary to his calm façade. Perhaps he did feel after all.

Then Decimus was all business again. “I’m sorry for my rude behavior in the clinic. It was an inexcusable violation of First Contact protocol.”

“You spoke from the heart. To do otherwise would have been a lie.”

“Courtesy is not lying.”

“It can be.”

“The Pathfinder would disagree with you. Keep that in mind, Jaal Ama Darav.”

So, he’d investigated him already. It wasn’t a surprise, but he felt a little pleasant bubbling in his chest anyway.

“Are you jealous of her position?”

“No.” It sounded like Decimus meant it.

He knew humans didn’t care for his passion, but he couldn’t hold it in. “She misses you. And you were meant for greater things than strike teams. You _want_ to imprint on an entire galaxy, affect entire planets. Just as you wanted to know how heat affects swords.”

The color drained from Decimus’ tanned face.

“She told you about that?”

Jaal nodded.

When the twins were six, Decimus had put a plastic toy sword in the oven to see what would happen, and their mother had taken their other sparring toys away. Eglantine had laughed when she shared the story, said she’d tried to give Decimus the silent treatment, but couldn’t hold out for more than an hour.

“He’s the best person in my world, Jaal, even when we’re apart,” she’d said.

“You were a happy child. You were happy together. You should not be apart.”

“How would you know?”

“One night, in the darkest hours, I found her watching family videos in the social room on the Tempest. She invited me to stay.”

Decimus’ cheeks pinkened. “Did she now?”

Jaal grinned. “I do not plan on wooing the Pathfinder.”

Decimus scowled. “Why not? What’s wrong with her?”

“Absolutely nothing. She is content as she is, Decimus. I promise.”

The human blinked at the use of his name and the angara pushed ahead while he had the advantage. He did not want for them to go their separate ways.

“You are a fair man, a giving one. You will not abandon her.”

Decimus sighed. “She never accused me of abandonment. The worst she’s ever done is call me an asshat—when I deserved it.”

“I would love to see a hat on your ass. And to see you with a beard again. Not that your bare face is not sexy, but . . . ”

Decimus laughed. “‘Hat.’ I think the slang you’re looking for is ‘raincoat.’ Are all angara this forward?”

“Yes. To feel is to live, and the words must be shared.”

Decimus watched his sister talk with the captain down the hall. “Are you sure I won’t be in her way?”

Jaal’s heart leapt with hope. “I am sure.”

“Then I will ask if she wants me there.”

“Good. I look forward to . . . speaking with you more.”

The human gave him a genuine smile this time, eyes sparkling. “I think I do, too. You might want to ask Eglantine about human traditions regarding ‘privacy’ before there’s any further discussion of ‘hats.’”

“If it makes you happy, I will do so.”

“Well,” Decimus cleared his throat. “Okay, then. See you on the Tempest.” He left Jaal and headed for his sister, head high and shoulders relaxed. The view provided by his snug white Initiative uniform really was quite pleasant.

“Yes,” Jaal said to himself. “See you on the Tempest.”


End file.
